Alter Ego - 23rd of Megan, 17 EoHAlter Ego - 23rd of Megan, 17 EoH
Canterlot Palace - Equestria
The distinct sound of something crystalline cracking made me wince. I’d always hated that sound. Not sure why. It’s a naturally unpleasant noise, but there’s being bothered by something, and then there’s being upset for a good chunk of the day because you heard a particularly aggravating sound.
Fortunately, I could ignore that feeling. But it didn’t mean it wasn’t there.
“-drive my point home for me,” Princess Celestia groaned, closing her eyes wearily for a moment.
I saw Twilight wince as Celestia groaned. She really cared about Princess Celestia’s orders, mood, well being… Were they a couple? No, no probably not. Dash had said Twilight was married to ‘some guy’. She didn’t seem to be the type to cheat, or hold a polyamorous relationship.
It seemed more likely for Celestia to be the top of the chain of command here. An odd position for a Princess to hold, even in what I was fairly certain was a matriarchal society. Equestria was an entire nation, normally the sovereign's children would rule a small province as practice. This was how Mars did it, how Earth did it, how almost every world I’d ever heard of did it… So why was it different here?
Did Princess Celestia’s mother rule the entire planet? Wait, wasn’t Twilight also a Princess?
Why are you thinking about this when we’re under attack?
“We need to act quickly! Shining Armor’s shield will not hold for long.” Celestia exclaimed.
“Last time he’d been drained by a changeling queen of most of his energy,” Twilight said with a defensive narrowing of her eyes.
Celestia nodded. “Yes. He was. And that’s why a bunch of changelings shoulder-checking the shield shattered it. Trust me, he won't stand up to a full artillery barrage for more than twenty minutes, even with the Solariums assistance.
“He gave me a full overview of his capabilities before using the shield last time, Twilight. The size of the shield is directly proportional to the durability of the shield.”
“Oh! Right!” Twilight exclaimed, a wave of embarrassment radiating off her. “Sorry.”
“I’ll locate the enemy commander. Twilight, I know you haven't had much training in combat magic, but do you know how to fire a ray spell with a rotating frequency? The kind of spell is more commonly referred to as a Ward-Breach.”
Twilight thought about it for a moment then shook her head. “No, but I think I could figure it out. Are we relying on me to take down any defenses he has?”
“No. Your initial attack should actually take out whatever support he has from his soldiers. There’s no chance he wont have several mages backing him up. You said he seems to have an exceptional hatred for you. If you challenge him to a one on one duel, he’s likely to accept, and you can take out his back up with ‘missed’ shots,” Celestia said in a rather cunning display of strategy.
I had to say I was impressed. Twilight on the other hand looked surprised. Very surprised.
“I Um… But…” She stammered.
Celestia frowned gently. “I’m sorry, Twilight. I know I’ve never asked you to harm anything before, and if you can disable them without killing them that’s perfectly acceptable. But we don’t have room to be inefficient when-”
Another boom and crystalline cracking shook the city, forcing me to cringe and curl in on myself slightly.
Guh! That sound is almost painful.
“That’s not it,” Twilight objected. “I just never- I don’t see you as any kind of warrior, but you’re talking about murdering the support to take the leader!”
Celestia frowned, honestly sad. “I’ve put a lot of effort into removing war and commonplace violence from Equestria. I grew up in a world which was almost always in a state of war, Twilight. I haven't had to think like this for nearly a thousand years. But while Luna was always more adept at commanding armies and using grand strategy than I, I was always better in dules, subterfuge, and small scale tactics. The peaceful and strictly diplomatic attitude I normally exhibit now is not how I’ve been for most of my life.”
I felt my eyes widen as I took in the pony princess’s statement. For a THOUSAND years? What the hell! I want to live that long! Hmmm, it had to be the necklace. That looked like it was enchanted… Maybe I could ask for one as a reward for helping save the world.
Twilight’s ears drooped, and you didn’t need to be a psychic to sense the confused frown behind the mask she had on.
“I know it’s hard to see me in a way you never have in your lifetime, Twilight,” Celestia said soothingly. “But there is evidence there for you. Why do you think I never gave you and your friends a few squads of trained warriors to assist you during emergencies?
“I’m not good at working with more than a hooffull of ponies at once, and even then only for a clear and concise objective. One on one duels, small unit tactics, those are things I can do well. But I don’t need to use those to secure peace. I do politics far better than warfare, hence the way you’ve seen me up until now. Now, as I was saying before-”
KILLING INTENT!
My head snapped around to face the direction the focused premeditated hatred was coming from. A wall. Good! No directly line of site. Telepathic range is twenty meters. Is this one of our sold-
<Celestia shouldn’t be able to survive this->
NOPE!
“Assassin!” I shouted in warning, midway through getting that snippet of surface thought.
Okay Alter, solve this problem. No room for error. No time for more than a snap decision. GO!
Problem: Attempted assassination of extremely powerful mage within their own sanctum.
Analysis: Given estimations of Celestia’s magical power, extreme force would be required to guarantee her destruction. Rough estimation requires the approximate energy equivalence to several kilotons of TNT for direct attack. Alternatives include exceptionally toxic biological and chemical weapons, likely dispersed in the air to ensure the target is affected.
Threat level: Extreme.
Best course of action: Locate and vaporize the threat, and the means of assassination to advert cataclysmic destruction of palace, and or city.
My eyes began to glow red as I delivered my natural magics to boosting my telepathic powers, scanning the nearby world for the Assassin's mind. A hallway. The one facing this room. Okay, what weapon is he-
My ears fell flat with horror as I felt the Assassin's mind lock up seconds after I’d forced my way into it. Whoever he was, he’d had training against psychic attacks. He’d blocked me out. He knew he’d been spotted! I’d likely just made him decide to move NOW instead of seconds from now.
I needed line of sight!
Taking a quick breath I turned my magic from telepathy to intangibility, and stepped through the half meter of marble veneer granite into the hallway outside. I could now see the assassin. He was dressed in a black, all-concealing robe, which should have been suspicious as hell but likely had some form of stealth enchantments on it.
The pointy bit of the hood indicated he was a unicorn. Meaning a spellcaster. Meaning his attack was likely magical in nature.
Mages can’t cast if they can't focus.
Verify target… Yes, that individual’s mind is blocked off. FIRE!
I lashed out with one of my standard one two punch combos for powerful enemies. The first spell I cast without words, a risky move for myself, but the illusionary cloud of black smoke-like darkness rolled forwards down the hallway, fanged maws and bloodshot eyes appearing within the cloud’s ‘random’ formations, just as I’d intended.
The assassin shrieked in terror, spinning around amid a panicked scream of a word I missed as I intoned my attack spell. “Thrysta vindr!”
My illusion spell distorted, and the many tapestries lining the hallway fluttered as the air in the hallway rushed away from the assassin, creating a near-vacuum. Which I immediately let three times the normal amount of air into. “Losna!”
The overpressure wave thunderclap deafened me. The sound bounced off the stone walls with enough pressure for me to feel, knocking me off my hooves as if I’d been punched. I heard stone crack, the spell’s sphere of influence having been centered on the floor under the assassin to try and smash him to paste against the stone floor.
When I managed to finally get back to my hooves and look down the now cracked, rubble filled hallway, I was able to see that is exactly what happened. I highly doubted the body would be identifiable… Supersonic pressure waves tended to do that to meat-based things.
I was pretty sure I’d collapsed my own lung with that little stunt. But the risk to myself was worth it. Whatever that mage had been about to do, it would have been sufficient to kill an immortal sorceress slash possible god-queen.
Well, god-princess.
Either way, I’d probably just stopped a nuclear detonation equivalent.
I took a breath to return to my intangible state, nearly losing the lungfull of air as a sharp pain clawed at the right side of my chest. Yep. Collapsed a lung… And my eardrums were likely ruptured too.
I could heal myself with shapechanging. But I’d need some time to do it. Ears I could fix now, they were just tiny flaps of skin after all. Internal organs? Whole other story.
I stepped through the wall, returning to the small personal study Celestia had taken me to to give me the energy restoring charm. The two Alicorns had surrounded themselves with shield bubbles, a rather prudent measure I hadn’t thought of in the heat of the moment.
Restoring my eardrums by deforming and reforming my ears, I offered the two a shaky grin. “Problem solved,” I wheezed, right lung protesting each and every syllable. “I need… Five, ten minutes to fix… Lung.”
“What did you do!?” Twilight demanded, her eyes wide with a mixture of fear and desire.
“Made vacuum. Filled vacuum. Air pressure… Concussive blast. Went a bit overboard… Talking hurts. Ruptured lung. Was too close. Give me five minutes,” I repeated in short huffing breaths before sitting down, eyes closed to focus on repairing the far, far far more complex organs within my body.
“Can’t you just change into something that’s not injured?” Celestia asked tilting her head.
I shook my head, turning inwards to focus on my meditations.
Other Martians, yeah. They could. Me? I had to fix things manually. Injuries persisted between my forms until repaired.
“In any case, Alter, I owe you a debt. Thank you,” Celestia said, bringing a smile to my face.
It was nice to get some direct thanks for-
“Oh my gosh!” Twilight exclaimed in horror. “If they could get one assassin in the palace, they could get more, and that means they DID, and if I were them I’d kill the pony who everypony in Equestria knows can shield a while cit- I GOT TO GO!”
Oh. Yes. That Shining Armor guy would definitely be a priority target. Maybe I could fight minus a lung just long enough to-
Twilight vanished in a flash of lavender light, teleporting presumably to wherever the shield’s creator was. The light was bright enough to pierce through my eyelids, snapping me out of my healing meditation, forcing me to blink my eyes clear, which provided me with a view out the study’s window.
I watched the shield suddenly exploded into a thousand shards with the sound of a crystal vase being dropped onto concrete.
Too late…
Applejack - 23rd of Megan, 17 EoH
Canterlot Palace Garden - Equestria
I’d just discovered the single most frustrating thing in the world. Being in the care of a literally magical doctor, during the middle of an emergency where everypony was in serious danger, and needed your help, and knowing exactly what was wrong with you, but not being able to tell the doctor, who was still trying to work out exactly why you were lying there fully paralyzed.
“Das macht mich verrückt!” Lily shouted angrily, grabbing his blond mane with his hooves. “I don’t get this! Everything should be fine now. I’ve made her regenerate twice!”
“At least she has her legs back,” Dash said softly, a worried look crossing her face, which I could just barely see out of the corner of my eye since I couldn’t move even that.
Being locked into just one view of the sky overhead when things are happening around you is almost the worst thing imaginable. Especially when things are exploding. I knew it was something attacking the shield, but, well, I’d like to look to see how worried I should be.
Too bad I wasn’t a changeling. Then I could just think at her and let her know that I was okay and what the problem was and ask to be propped up so I could see the attacking monster.
Lily could fix anything. He’d fixed Scoot’s wings, right? This was all just because he didn’t know that Dawn disconnected my engine whatsit…
No that wasn’t it. Motor something? Yeah, motor something!
“Ja, ja at least I could make her new legs,” Lily sighed, sitting back on his haunches. “She can’t be cursed to not heal. Because she has de new legs…”
He trailed off, looking at his hoof work slightly bemused. “I think I made them a bit more muscular und toned than the old ones.”
Dash blushed lightly. “That’s fine. I’m sure AJ doesn't mind, right, hon?”
Not in the slightest… I’d been wanting to see about improving my ability to gain muscle for the last year. I’d hit my limit years ago and I still could use a bit more pulling strength for work around the farm. I just… Well, every time I’d decided to go, I’d remembered ma’s lecture on letting nature take its course and decided not to.
That stupid memory kept me from doing a lot of things. If we survived this, I’d have to start learning to ignore it sometimes.
It might be a bit disrespectful, to ma I mean. But maybe if I’d been stronger I could have resisted Dawn and prevented all of this...
<Hey,> a female voice said in my head. <Are you sick too?>
I mentally panicked at the sudden voice in my head. <NO! GO AWAY!>
<Sorry! I can’t talk… I didn’t know this would scare you,> the voice apologised, genuinely sorry.
Wait. Female voice. Apologizing. That wasn’t Dawn.
<I- No- wait! I thought you were somepony else. Who are you?> I asked uneasily.
<I’m Megan. I’m lying to your right. Near the pink Alicorn… Did Celestia have a filly?> Megan babbled. <I thought you were dead. So I asked if you were sick to check. So I could stop the doctor from wasting her magic on you if you were dead.>
<Lily’s a stallion,> I said reflexively.
<Not inside,> Megan countered.
I couldn’t dispute that… He was VERY mareish in likes, behavior, body language- Everything really. I’d say he was in Rarity’s boat, but well, if Lily actually wanted to be a mare, he would be.
Unless he also enjoyed passing with makeup and acting enough to balance everything out. Why do ponies have to be so complic-
Oh yeah, our designer is a massive plot hole. You know, that answers a LOT of questions I have about life.
<Fair enough. I’m Applejack,> I introduced. <I wish I’d met you under better circumstances.>
<Hi Applejack! Do you know what’s wrong with you?> Megan asked hopefully. <I can say short sentences. I can tell her. I mean him.>
Well that was good! But before I had her relay the message, I had one question. Not that I had any problem with changelings by this point, but well, when a mare starts talking to you telepathically, they’re probably a changeling. And as far as I knew changelings had to love you to talk to you like this.
Which, uh, well, that would be awkward.
<Yeah I do. Are you a changeling?> I asked curiously. <I thought changelings needed an emotional bond with ponies to talk to them like this.>
<No. I’m not a bugpone,> Megan giggled. <I thought it was cool, Clover could talk like this so I made myself able to talk like this. Oh! I could make you able to too! It’s easy, and I won't get too sick from using that little magic.>
<WOAH! Hold on there,> I said, the world around me going fuzzy as my full attention turned to the mental conversation I was having. <Did ya’ll just say using magic makes you sick? You asked if I was sick too, did you cast a spell and just collapse?>
I couldn’t imagine anything more awful than a unicorn who had to vomit every time they wanted to use magic… Heck, unicorns basically used magic for everything. Even normal body stuff. They got extra nutrition out of their food because magic. This poor mare would be sick every single day of her life if that was the case!
That sounded like something Dawn would do to a pony… Nothing would be better than to stand up and test out these new legs on his face.
<No. Some bad people drugged me… It still hurts,> Megan replied sadly. <But it’s okay… My magic isn’t… I can hurt people. By accident. If I don’t use it right, a shadow person comes out of my dreams and stays in the world. Sometimes they hurt people. So at least I didn’t hurt anyone…>
I mentally winced. I remember Nightmare Moon looking like a shadow in that brief moment it wasn’t inside Princess Luna. Which if I remembered Twilight’s explanation right, meant this mare was in tune with the realm of dreams, and drew power from it.
Poor thing likely had a talent for it that meant she couldn’t use normal magic...
<I’d rather have come back here though,> Megan continued. <None of my magic ever brought shadow people here when I used it. I just got a little sick when I did. Except for when I made the Elements so Clover could stop Discord. Then I got really sick. For a whole year. I almost died.>
OH! Oh no… I’d heard Sunset and Cadence talk about Celestia sending Twilight to go find the Element’s creator t fix them. She had to have forgotten that the poor mare had been in serious danger doing that.
<I’m sorry… But, um, I think my friend brought you here to fix the Elements. Because they broke,> I apologised wishing I could send some sympathy along with my words.
Stupid mental talking. Can’t give the other pony a hug while you do it...
<I know… Tia thought Discord made me sick. She doesn't know I can’t fix them now. I won’t be able to for a long time. But I will. I don’t want my friends to get hurt. It’s okay if I am hurt so they aren't.
<Oh yeah. I forgot. What’s wrong with you? So I can tell the doctor,> Megan asked again.
<Dawn disabled my motor thingie in my brain while he was possessing me,> I answered.
<... The bad guy Tia’s fighting now?> Megan asked angrily.
<Yeah… You sound angry,> I said in the hopes of deflecting the conversation.
I didn’t exactly want to think back on the last few days too much.
<I am angry! It’s not okay to do that to people. The girl in the cell next to me did it to lots of people to make them hurt themselves. Badly. It’s evil! I hope Tia punches him,> Megan huffed. <Hold on. It takes me a second to talk.>
Me too. I hope she punches him right in the dick. Better yet, I should ask Dash to do it. At her top speed. He’s the only male of any species to deserve that.
I’d do it myself, but I really can’t stand up… Or even look at the mare I’m talking to. At least this patch of sky is kinda nice.
“Applejack says the bad guy… disabled… motor… thingie…” A mare’s voice croaked audibly.
“Whas?” Lily asked, his ears perking. “Did you say something, Megan?”
“Yeah! She said AJ said something,” Dash said eagerly, zipping over to Megan at full speed, assuming that I was hearing her movement right. “How did you talk to her? Can you tell her I’m sorry it took so long to save her? Please?”
<OHMYGOSH!> Megan exclaimed excitedly. <She’s got speedy superpowers! That’s so cool!>
I couldn’t help but giggle at the way this grown mare sounded like a thirteen year old filly when she said that.
<Yeah, that’s my wife, Rainbow Dash. She’s definitely something special,> I informed happily. <Uh, let her know it’s okay it took her so long. Alright? She had to go get help. That’s fine. Everypony needs help sometimes.>
“Telepa… Tah…UGH! Buggie brain talking,> Megan managed to say, in answer to Dash’s question. “She’s says… It’s okay.”
“Okay, and what’s wrong with her? Is it a curse? I can go get Twilight,” Dash said, her speech accelerating asshe spoke.
<Um, what was it again? You didn’t say a real thing so uh…> Megan asked half embarrassed.
<I forgot what he called it… Just say the part of the brain that lets you move is not working,> I decided after a moment’s thought.
“Brain part… Not working. The mo- Movement bit,” Megan awkwardly replied, sounding as if those few sentences had been a full mile’s sprint.
<Why aren't you just using telepathy with them too?> I asked curiously.
<They’re too worried about things to listen to quiet thoughts. I’m not very loud like this,> Megan admitted shyly.
“Movement bit?” Lily asked himself curiously. “Ah! Motor Cortex. Ja, no wonder my regeneration spells didn’t fix that. I made them before I knew anything about the brain.”
“BUCK!” Dash shouted angrily. “I forgot you can’t fix brains!”
“Nein! I’ve got a year’s practice learning about them. I uh, I’m not very good at it, but I fixed a brain tumor last month. I might be able to fix her… If worst comes to worst and I can’t, all we need to do is get into my lab und I can just clone a new body und put her in it. Good as new!” Lily proclaimed proudly, a mad scientist’s gleam in his eyes.
“Uh… You can do that?” Dash asked worriedly.
<Yeah… That doesn't sound remotely safe,> I added silently.
<It’s pretty cool sounding though,> Megan added.
I caught sight of Lily giving Dash a shrug. “Maybe? I could make the body. That’s easy. Not sure how to put her into it though. But Applejack is alive, und stable. Once we win the battle here, we’ll have all the time in the world to heal her.”
“Yeah, but we need everypony able to use the Elements!” Dash objected.
<Could I use my Element all limp like this?> I asked Megan curiously. <You know, if it weren't broke.>
<Uh huh,> Megan answered. <I’m sorry the doctor can’t fix you… I might have enough magic to fix you. I could try.>
<No! You’re already sick,> I protested.
<Yeah. But I haven't eaten anything solid in months. So I’ll just dry heave for a while. Which won't make me feel any worse than I do now. Give me a little while to start daydreaming and I’ll fix you,> Megan said decisively.
<At least let Lily try first!> I begged, recognising me level stubbornness in Megan’s voice.
<Okay. Oh, hey! Do you have superpowers too?> Megan asked hopefully.
I almost managed to roll my eyes at that question. Amazingly, Megan wasn’t the first pony to ask me that.
<Look, just because I’m an orange and yellow farm mare who lives in Ponyville doesn't mean I’m Supermare. It’s just a comic book which uses real cities as places in the story,> I grumbled. <And the artist didn’t get permission to use me as the model for his character. He’s lucky I think lawsuits are immoral.>
<I’m sorry. You get asked that a lot, don’t you?> Megan asked, an amused giggle coming from her as well.
<You have no idea… My little sister once asked me when she’d be able to fly too,> I said, chuckling at the memory. <At least that’s normal for a five year old to think… But I’ve had some high school colts wonder if the comics were a Daring Doo situation.>
<Well, you're an Element of Harmony, so why wouldn’t they think you had special powers? You’ve helped save the world before, I mean, to have the Elemental bond you need to use them at least once,> Megan pointed out. <Most ponies would probably think only super special ponies could be Elements… But Anypony could actually.>
<Well, okay. Fair point that. But I’m still just a normal Earth Pony,> I laughed. <No powers here. Aside from having one heck of a good kick. That might count.>
<Humm… Too bad,> Megan said sorrowfully. <When one of the couple doesn't have superpowers in the comic books, they are always getting hurt and their partner needs to save them all the time.>
<Hey, I’ve saved Dash plenty of times!> I objected.
<It would still be cute if you two were a super powered couple, being awesome heros and stuff,> Megan giggled, clearly a bit loopy.
<W-well, admittedly I WOULD like to be able to buck Dawn into next week, but->
“Okay… Dash, hold her down again. There may be seizures while I try and reconnect her motor cortex,” Lily asked worriedly.
<I- I don’t like the sound of that!> I eeped.
Then the sky exploded.
With a sound like breaking glass, the shield dome over Canterlot disintegrated, falling apart just like a dropped snowglobe, with each of the shards disintegrating into mist after falling a short ways down towards the gold tipped spires below.
“Nun ist die Kacke am Dampfen…” Lily said, reverting to full Germane in stress like he always did. “Kann jemand einen Schild über dieses Feld Krankenhaus setzen?”
“Uhhhh, I don’t speak Germane,” Dash pointed out.
“Oh! I said, can anypony put a shield over this field hospital?” Lily repeated in Equish.
A bright flash of lavender light exploded right in my face as Twilight arrived, just so happening to teleport right into place so she was straddling my head. This created three thoughts within my mind.
First: Oh. So this is why Dash finds Twi sexy. I get it now, sugarcube. Eyuuup... Second: I am super happy she didn’t appear with a hoof through my head. I need to smack her and demand she be more careful in the future. Third: This is the single most awkward thing she’s done in the whole seventeen year’s I’ve known her. Including when we found her stash of romance novels. Let’s never remind her about this.
“LILY! THEY SHOT SHINING!” Twilight screamed in panic.
“It's just one arrow Twiy,” Shining groaned. “It just broke my concentration. I’ll be okay.”
“FIX IT!” Twilight ordered desperately.
I heard Shining yelp amid the sound of tearing flesh. “OW! See? It’s out now. I’ve had way worse than that before Twily,” Shining grumbled. “There will be more assassins in the Palace-”
“Did you really just rip a barbed arrow out of yourself?” Lily objected. “You’re going to bleed out now, dummkopf! Let me make sure it didn’t puncture anything important.”
“See?! It was bad!” Twilight said, sounding almost motherly.
“Shoulder blade! One arrow!” Shining objected loudly.
“One poisoned arrow. This is laced with a biotoxins I’m unfamiliar with,” Lily said firmly. “Twilight, put him down here. Shining, remain still while I treat you. Keep calm. Your heart rate needs to remain as slow as possible. I’ll have you on your hooves within ten minutes.”
“Horseapples!” Shining cursed. “It needs to be faster than that. Without my shield they’ll be able to just shell the city into dust!”
“What do their artillery pieces look like?” Sunset asked. “Do you know their positions?”
That’s Cadence’s friend Sunset. Not Shimmer. Who was back now, apparently.
“We need to stop them,” Twilight said. Right as something in the distance exploded.
Yeah… Yeah we do.
“Celestia was coming up with a plan,” Twilight continued fearfully. “Sunset, Breeze, Cadence, Celestia’s with Alter in her study. Follow me, we’ll have to quickly explain the whole plan and-
I heard the sharp crack of a rapid teleport, and suddenly Princess Celestia’s voice filled the entire garden. “Twilight, go and strike RIGHT NOW,” she ordered. “Cadence, Breeze, Sunset, We’re going to transport to the side of Mount Spurr and- Oh thank goodness! I thought we lost you, Shining. How soon can you get the shield back up?”
“He’s free to go whenever I can counteract this poison,” Lily answered for him. “I can already tell it will be tricky. Ten minutes at the soonest. I’ll need mana bars or other magic restoratives. I’m getting a bit low.”
“I understand… I’ll have some Guardsponies help you establish a field hospital here,” Celestia said with a relieved sigh. “As I was saying, girls, we transport to Mount Spurr. As soon as Twilight has lured their commander away from his forces, we teleport to her and take him down. Understood?”
“Understood,” Cadence replied immediately. “Has Prance arrived yet?”
“No,” Celestia sighed. “Hopefully soon. Everyone, move out!”
They all vanished with five different flashes of light. Ready to go and save Equestria.
And here I was. Laying on my back, unable to move a muscle despite being one of the ponies we needed to bring that monster down.
Dammit all...
Twilight Sparkle - 23rd of Megan, 17 EoH
Canterlot - Equestria
I appeared on the side of Mount Spurr a split second before anypony else. The side facing Canterlot was little more than a sheer rock face. Carved that way long ago to make attacking from above the city by land impossible. There was only one spot I knew of which you could stand on and look down at the city from. Just big enough for a dozen ponies to stand on.
I’d appeared there. And a heartbeat later so did everypony else. Celestia began to talk, explaining her plan in more detail. But I didn’t listen. Because I could see the enemy below.
The entire natural ramp leading up to the city had been entirely filled by the demons, and they were demons. Some quite literally taken right out of fantasy novels ideas of what such monsters should look like.
They weren't just a horrific mess of parts taken from scary things, mashed into abominations, or twisted reflections of living things. I could see the magic allowing them to exist. It wasn’t dark magic. It wasn’t light magic. It was a twisted and perverse thing to look at. I’d never looked at something and simply known it was wrong. But these things?
I could quite literally see the evil.
I’d seen the army before, when moving everypony around. But I hadn’t stopped to look at them directly. If I had… Maybe I’d have forgone getting my friends. Because now they were all within the very city the demons were demolishing with ball after ball of burning sickly green fire.
The demons which threw the fireballs were impossible to miss. They stood a full six stories high, and looked something like what a deranged colt would doodle if you asked him to draw a monster which vomited up a crocodile which was somehow also a part of itself.
Even more horrific than their looks was their behavior. They weren't attacking the defenders at all. No, their shots were being sent right into the middle of the city. Not at the palace, at the city. They were not here to help the smaller monsters in their army reach the walls and overwhelm the defenses. They were here to level every single structure they saw.
That wouldn’t take them very long to do...
As I watched, one of the city’s larger towers took a direct hit from the demonic fire. The base exploded into rubble, sending the rest of the tower falling, crumbling mid air as a pillar of thick black smoke reached up into the sky.
How many ponies lived there? How many had I just watched die? Celestia said that everypony was evacuated, but there were still soldiers there...
“Twilight!” Celestia exclaimed loudly. “Did you hear the plan?”
“Yes. Draw him away from the army. Then you all attack,” I repeated.
“I meant for you to accomplish that, I just gave you a plan for-”
“I have a plan,” I informed, gritting my teeth in anger as I saw the first line of demons began to rush forwards towards the hapless defenders atop the walls.
They didn’t have the numbers or power to withstand this assault…
I had to help them. Or they would all die.
“Your plan is to attack, isn’t it?” Sunset asked oddly calmly.
“Yep,” I agreed.
“Even with all of us combined, we won't last long against that many of them… Just remember to pull him away from his army,” Celestia reminded, her voice pleading with me.
“I will. Just be ready,” I said angrily, then teleported.
I arrived at the city’s main gate. The first row of demons looked something like diseased thestral foals with horns. I would have felt sorry for them, if they didn’t all have a sadistic gleam in their eyes as they looked up at the wall tops.
They were ready to kill anything they saw. As slowly, and painfully as they could too. More pointless evil from Dawn.
Let’s go find him.
Spreading my wings to brace myself, I dipped my head and swept my horn from my right to my left, slicing down the rank of attacking monsters with a blast of arcane fire. I didn’t stay still to see how effective it was. Instead I flew upwards, stopping just above the wall to look down and fire a ray spell into the first of the ‘artillery demons’ I saw, burning a hole as wide as myself clean through it.
Dawn would come to me. I was going to stop them from destroying Canterlot.
I cast the strongest shield spell I could manage. Intentionally letting the enemy attack me. They were eager to. I could hardly see anything through the shower of sparks my shield spell shed as countless energy bolts, arrows, and thrown spears bounced off the shimmering lavender shell.
That was a problem. But fortunately I could see the flashes as the big demons readied their fireballs.
I could feel my shield draining. Taking up more magic than I really should let it have as I fired shot after shot at every single flash of green I saw before me. Five… ten… twelve shots. Hopefully twelve direct hits. I couldn’t tell.
At any rate it was time to move.
Deciding to conserve magic I folded my wings and dove downwards, flaring them a heartbeat later to sail over the heads of the army. It took them a moment to realized I’d moved, and in that split second I could see the damage I’d done. I’d managed to take down six more of the big fireball throwing monsters.
Unfortunately there were over a dozen more…
But that was fine. I’d just keep doing damage until Dawn decided to take me down.
I rolled left, dodging the wave of arrows fired at me just in time. I hadn’t intended to do that. Rather I’d only meant to roll within range of the mountainside. Dodging the arrows had been a happy bonus. What I’d really wanted was a rather sturdy looking house-sized boulder.
Dawn had an assassin shoot my big brother. It was only fitting that I attack him with one of Shining’s favorite memories from his old Oubliettes and Ogres games. Besides. It would conserve magic.
I grabbed the boulder, locking my arcane grip around its rough exterior. Gritting my teeth under strain I ripped the boulder free of the mountainside with a loud crack of breaking stone. Oops… It had been an outcropping. Not a boulder… Well, it was a boulder now!
Smaller rocks and dirt rained down them the boulder, falling through my magic’s lavender aura as the boulder itself took all of my strength to lift. I didn’t have to lift it for long. Turning around I dropped the boulder into the massed ranks of the deamon army. It slammed into the earth, the crash of it settling into place drowning out any sound the demons crushed beneath it may have made.
I frowned. I was really angry, wan’t I? That wasn’t good… Alter had been right about being angry being bad. Not just in general but in the context of a fight. I had to try and calm down.
A fireball exploded against my shield, washing out my vision for a moment.
I also couldn’t just stay still and do nothing. Is this what Celestia’s fillyhood had been like? How had she turned out the way she did?
I grabbed the boulder by one edge, focusing on that task as much as I could to try and calm myself. Then I stood the boulder upright one one end, and flipped it over, letting it crash to the ground again, taking another bite out of the demonic hoard below.
Then I stood it up again, and tipped it forwards once more. Then again, and again. Like a domino falling end over end, crossing the ground before it kinda like a rectangular wheel.
As the massive rock simply squashed a line through the Tartarian army’s ranks I couldn’t help but understand why Shining had loved this move so much when playing his game. It was very effective, simplistic, and brilliant. I hated it. Because it also seemed cruel, unfair, and just a bit sadistic on my part.
I should stop…
“Really? The most brilliant mind Equestria has to offer and it decides to just drop rocks on my toys?” Dawn’s unmistakable voice mocked from above me.
I looked up, expecting to see the same jet black stallion I had before. Instead, simply hovering there was a light gray unicorn with a shaggy black mane and tail whIch I swore I’d seen around Canterlot before.
He smiled, sensing my confusion. “Oh this? Just a suit I’m wearing today. If you don’t like it maybe I can have Rarity make me something better before I kill him.”
“Her,” I corrected with an irritated growl.
“I’m very well aware. Who do you think made it possible for a brain and a body to be mismatched like that?” Dawn laughed mockingly. “I always get a kick out of that particular kind of suffering. It’s like fudge. Rich, sophisticated, a special treat. Which is why I don't apply it to everyone.
“Honestly, Twilight, you’re a living organism. I hold dominion over life. Do you really think you can beat me? Honestly? One touch and I can simply dissolve you into a pile of assorted amino acids.”
I couldn’t help but smile. This again? “Oh? Then why haven't you?”
“What fun would it be if I just won all the time instantly?” Dawn asked, rolling his eyes.
I couldn’t help but smile more. That had run so hollow. He was lying. Something was keeping him from fighting us at his full strength. And nothing was preventing me from giving him all I had.
“We both know you’re not doing this for the satisfaction of hard work,” I said with a sly smile.
Drawing on my magic, I cast an ice spell, encasing Dawn in a block of dark blue ice. He fell out of the sky, sailing past me in a flash, the ice shattering after a few seconds. Dawn flew up at me from the cloud of ice shards, a dozen crackling red spear-like bolts of energy flying at me in a wall.
I teleported out of the way, taking care to move myself towards Canterlot before firing a ray spell back in retaliation. Dawn lifted a hoof, conjuring an energy shield which reflected the beam. Not at me, at the walltop, a sizeable length of which exploded before I managed to stop firing the beam.
“Oops!” Dawn giggled. “You should be more CAREFUL!”
As he roared the last word he threw the flat shield disk at me. The red energy screamed as it flew through the air, slicing along like a sword. I closed my wings, dropping out of the way as it sailed overhead, only to find myself in the path of a second. I banked right, heading into the path of a third.
I couldn’t keep dodging these, and I couldn’t fall back. I had to keep this fight going, and also moving. And I really didn’t want to take a hit from one of those with my shield… I had a bad feeling in my gut about those disks.
I fired a spell bolt at the disk ahead of me. The moment magic touched it it detonated, sending a flurry of small obsidian shards flying towards me, each one shining with some kind of enchantment.
I knew it! The explosion would likely breach the shield, and then those would just kill you.
I teleported again, moving higher up in the air, and also closer to Canterlot. Dawn grit his teeth and raced towards me, leaving a pale trail of red light behind him as he flew through the air. I flapped my wings a few times, getting myself to just the right angle, then dipped my head and let loose the most powerful ray spell I could.
I poured all of my anger into the attack, the extra emotion fueling the spell, making the hoof wide beam burn bright and expand to cover a several meter wide radius. Just like with Tirek.
But way less draining of my over all magic. I’d come pretty far in attack spells.
Too bad all I knew were the basics of self defense. The moment this was over, I was fixing that.
The ray smashed into Dawn, seemingly with no effect. I paused, the spell ending as I lost concentration. The moment the searing light vanished I gasped in horror. The body Dawn had been occupying was half disintegrated.
The jet black fur I had expected poked through the many holes which had burnt through the fur and skin beneath. Dawn’s red eyes glared at me from behind the blackened skull as he shot towards me with an enraged shriek. “DIE!”
He swept a foreleg towards me, a crackling red blade five times my size solidifying from the air and slicing in towards me. I let myself drop, falling under the attack, managing to remember to fire a small volley of admittedly pathetic spellbolts in retaliation as the crackling blade scraped across the top of my shield, kicking up a shower of sparks as it cut a slice out of the shield itself, forming a small hole which I immediately closed.
That small distraction was all Dawn needed.
He teleported, arriving directly in front of my shield and slamming a hoof into it. The shield exploded instantly, black fire crackling outwards from the impact only to suddenly arc towards me!
I teleported out of reflex. That one action saving my life. I heard the burst of fire explode, I felt the heat of the explosion on my back. The thunderclap made my ears ring. The light hurt my eyes despite me facing away from it.
I’d teleported a half kilometer away…
Okay. Yeah. Get him to a place away from this allies. Now. Because you CAN’T take him on alone. Maybe above the mountain, where nopony else.
Dawn’s sneering face appeared inches away from mine. I yelped and flapped my wings as hard as I could, shooting backwards through the air as I put up a new shield spell.
“Let’s see how many of those you can dodge!” Dawn laughed, cocking a foreleg back as he gathered more of the black fire around it.
Oh crap! Where did I teleport to? It was about to lev-
I’d teleported to the palace gardens. A mere twenty meters above my friends!
WHY DID YOU DO THIS, BRAIN!?
Of all the times to subconsciously seek safety with your friends!
“I MESSED UP! HELP!” I shouted as loudly as I could.
Dawn pulled his leg back to throw the fireball. Four sharp cracks echoed off the palace walls. Dawn looked up, his eyes widened in surprise, he threw the fireball, not at me, but upwards. Four brilliant ray spells blasted towards as Celestia, Cadence, Sunset, and Breeze combined their attacks into a single spell, forming a gleaming gold-white beam of light which slammed into Dawn.
The monster screeched, immediately vanishing inside the torrent of magic as the combined might of three Alicorns and a top-tier unicorn burned the ground beneath them into a puddle of molten stone.
Fearing the strength of Dawn’s black fire indicated just how heavy a hitter he could be, I teleported upwards, joining my mentor and friends to add my own magic to the unified attack.
After a solid ten seconds, Celestia let her part of the spell end to land near the orange glowing puddle of stone and squint into the beam, seeking any sign of Dawn.
“Hold your fire! We don’t know if he telpor- Ah. Well, that was… Easy,” Celestia remarked as we stopped firing.
Centered in the bubbling pool was a pile of ash, and a mangled black form. The body he had been using completely disintegrated. Whatever magic had transformed his body into whatever it now was crackled and hissed, lines of gray steam drifting up from the mangled form which lay in the stone.
Good. Magic could hurt him… Maybe even kill him. He was laying awfully still.
Did we do it? Could we have? We’d just hit him with more firepower than Id’ ever seen in my life, so maybe.
Dawn shifted, slowly standing up, Celestia teleported away, returning to the air, her wings spread wide as she gathered energy for a second blast.
“Okay…” Dawn croaked. “Looks like you five are a match for…”
“Me?” I asked myself, still hopeful we’d done some major damage.
“Me,” Dawn finished.
“Yes!” I hissed softly to myself. “Shoot him again, girls!” I called, readying myself for a second unified attack.
“While I’m wearing a mortal skin,” Dawn added. “Which you so kindly disintegrated. Now if you’ll excuse me...” Dawn said before rearing up and unleashing a scream of pure rage.
His jet black fur bubbled melting together to form a metallic-looking scaly hide that tinted itself even darker, as if Dawn’s body was being consumed by a wave of the void. His muscles rippled rolled, and doubled in size, even before his body began to grow. Bright red crackling arcs of arcane energy flashed in the air around him, creating a burning aura as his screeching cry morphed into a deep, rumbling roar.
I could SEE the thaumaturgic current in the air around Dawn slide towards him, as if caught in an inescapable pool. He was transforming himself into exactly what he said. The absolute peak of arcane and physical power.
“Fire!” Celestia cried.
The five of us there another volley, the beams failing to unite as one due to our mutual fear. The beams struck home, pushing Dawn back a few steps, and leaving a few small burn marks on his scaly hide, but he just laughed at our attempts to harm him.
Okay, new plan… Try and think of any elemental weakness. Or a way to teleport him into a volcano. Or um, um, uh…
“HEY JERKFACE!” somepony yelled.
Dawn’s head jerked to the side as he turned to look. I spared a glance myself, my heart falling fearfully as I saw Megan, barely standing up on her hooves, one wing bracing herself upright, doing her best to give Dawn a death glare while she hunched over Applejack slightly.
“... Seriously?” Dawn asked, honestly taken aback. “You’re literally in critical condition, and you think you can fight me?”
I agreed with that assessment, but I wasn’t going to vocalize it.
Megan slowly shook her head. “No. But Applejack really wants to kick your ass. Sooo, boop!”
I blinked in surprise as Megan simply poked AJ in the nose with her left hoof, barely noticing the little pink spark which leapt from Megan's hoof to AJ’s nose.
Megan immediately flinched curled up, flopped over, and spat a mouthful of blood onto the grass in one of the most painful looking dry heaves turned wet I’d ever seen in my life. I winced, despite everything else I’d seen today.
“... She’s paralyzed. Let your brain continue shutting down while the grownups settle buisness,” Dawn said, rolling his eyes as he turned back to the five of us. “Now, I think I was just about to rip off her head, and-”
AJ stood up, popped her neck, sprinted full tilt at Dawn, jumped, twisted mid air, and slammed both her rear hooves into his side. The impact sounded almost exactly the same as the boulder breaking free from the mountainside, and was shortly followed by a second crack as Dawn smashed through the palace wall.
A full fifty meters away.
“Whelp. You definitely deliver on a promise, Megan!” AJ remarked with an extremely satisfied grin.
“You're… Welcome… AJ,” Megan coughed. “Enjoy!”
Dawn’s enraged scream made me realize I’d need to save my questions for later. There was still work left to do.